In 2025, even those who can barely operate a cell phone have heard about artificial intelligence and how it’s going to shape the future. But while many are excited about the promise, tech journalist and podcaster Ed Zitron is suspicious of the hype.
“All of these companies are claiming that large language models, OpenAI, ChatGPT, and the like, is the next big thing,” he says. “The problem is, the actual efficacy, the actual abilities of these programs, have been the same for about two years now. These companies keep growing, their stock valuations keep going up. But it’s not coming from any AI sales.”
Born in England, Zitron attended college in Pennsylvania and settled in Las Vegas, where he began a public relations company. In 2020, he began the “Where’s Your Ed At” newsletter, a caustic, clever examination of the ways we’re failed by the tech that’s supposed to improve our lives.
Last year, he began the award-winning Better Offline podcast, which has featured guests from former FTC chair Lina Khan to MIT economist Daron Acemoglu to comedian Andy Richter.
Zitron spoke to Desert Companion about the AI bubble, the business idiot, and the honesty of Las Vegas.
